In a significant effort to sway voters ahead of the 2024 election, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, a prominent anti-abortion group, has embarked on a massive door-knocking campaign across key swing states. This initiative, fueled by a record-breaking $92 million investment, has seen the organization engage with 4 million voters, aiming to influence their stance on abortion-related issues.
The group’s focus is on persuading voters to oppose candidates and ballot measures that support expanding access to abortion. They are particularly targeting Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, highlighting her position on abortion restrictions.
Rachel Schroder, a Hillsdale College senior who volunteered as a canvasser in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, shared insights into the campaign’s impact. She highlighted the openness of voters to change their positions on abortion when engaged in face-to-face conversations. Schroder emphasized the group’s message that Harris and other Democratic leaders, like Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin, support unrestricted access to abortion, even in late stages of pregnancy. This, according to the pro-life group, is deemed unacceptable and extreme by a majority of voters.
Responding to these claims, Baldwin’s spokesperson, Andrew Mamo, countered that the senator is a staunch advocate for the Women’s Health Protection Act, which seeks to restore the protections provided by Roe v. Wade and empower women to make their own decisions regarding healthcare.
This voter contact program, the largest in the group’s history, has involved over a million students like Schroder, reaching more than 10 million voters in eight battleground states, including Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Montana, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
Abortion has emerged as a pivotal issue in the 2024 election cycle, ranking second only to the economy in importance for voters, according to a recent New York Times/Siena College poll. With the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade in 2022, states have gained the authority to regulate abortion, leading to a wave of restrictions by Republican-led states and expansions of access by Democratic-led states.
The stakes are high this November, with ten states featuring abortion-related ballot measures, including Arizona and Florida, where voters will decide if abortion rights should be constitutionally protected.
While the pro-life movement has seen some setbacks, like the approval of abortion rights measures in Kansas and Ohio, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America remains hopeful. They believe that providing women in crisis pregnancies with resources and alternatives to abortion will sway public opinion in favor of their cause.
Schroder, reflecting on her experiences, expressed optimism about the future of the pro-life movement, fueled by the dedication and activism of students and communities across the country. She sees the growing public attention to abortion as a sign that the issue is deeply important to Americans.
This intense push by Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, combined with the high stakes of the upcoming election, suggests that the issue of abortion will continue to be a central focus of the political landscape in the United States.
